Alive Inside
by The What-If Writer
Summary: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE/ PART 5. 'There comes a time, when you know there's no other option.' Rated for mention of slight gore.


_MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR PART 5 AND ENDING. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN._

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Alive Inside.

There comes a time, when you know there's no other option.

At first you're scared. In denial, like anyone would be. It's that panicky, tight, tense feeling that falls over you like a wave in the sea. It comes, it beats you to your knees, and for one moment nothing is more painful, nor agonizing, than knowing that your going to die.

But then...the numbness came. He remembered it so well. As he stood there, clutching his arm, cutting of the circulation his grip was so vice-like...staring at the bite as it burned into his skin. Numbness.

After that...it was like life didn't matter anymore. The horror was still there...but it was like a cancelled event you'd been looking forward to; Tomorrow that is. There was no tomorrow for him.

But there was for her.

The stench of rotting corpses was already faint now that they had gotten used to it. The dimly lit room was chilly and musty; His sight was...hazy. The handcuffs were digging into his skin, reminded him that he was attached to the bars.

He was so tired. He felt like he'd come home after a very, very long day. His legs ached, his throat was dry and husky. And all that had happened was swimming through his mind as a pair of ember, innocent eyes stared into his own.

Kenny. The others.

Some part of him expected to wake up in the motel again, after spending so many months there. Larry there to bother him, Clementine's reassuring smile that lit up his day. Kenny with his family.

Kenny's look as he was locked behind the bars was still there. It had never left.

And Lee hadn't understood how calm he could be. How sure.

He did now. It...was just one of those things. It didn't matter.

"What...what else?"

Lee lifted his head. He'd been saying something to her. Telling her something. What was it?

His mind so, so foggy now. It was so quite. All he could hear was his heart beating in his ears, slowing down more and more. His head felt incredibly heavy as he turned his clouded, feverish gaze towards her desperate, distraught face.

He remembered his brother. His mother, his father. His wife. And her.

"No. Don't worry. All right..."

The whisper was barely audible. It was so tired, so soft. But she heard. Tears were falling down her blood-stained cheeks, lips pursed, expression so hurt. He just wanted to make her feel better. Tell her how much he loved her.

He was her everything; Clementine.

All he could manage, and all he could say, was all he needed to tell her. It told her he loved her, as it was something only a loved one would say.

He turned his head back to her again, and Lee Everett murmured in a quiet, husky voice of a dying, tired man.

"I'll...Miss you."

Silent tears continued to fall, but she didn't sob. She stared back, her face so sad, so hurt. Just longing, like him, that things could be back to normal. But together. With Kenny and Katjaa and Duck all there.

"Me too."

She whimpered. And then, she stood up. She knew it was time. It was time to say goodbye forever. Lee silently marvelled at how strong she was. She could do anything now.

He was just so happy she was here, alive. And as long as she was alive, then he was as well. Inside her memory, her heart, with everyone else.

Alive Inside.

She stood and they just stared at each other, eyes locked. Cloudy and tired, gazing back at pain and sorrow. But they shared the same thing in both: Love.

Lee never let her eyes fall from hers, till the very last moment, the very last second of his life as she trembled, the gun shaking, face contorting in despair. Her eyes screwed shut as the trigger finally pulled.

The millisecond that fate allowed him to have before it ended, was blessed by her eyes opening once again and gazing back into his for the last time.

For the last time, just before the yellow light flashed, igniting the dimly lit room into a white, glowing room. Everything was lit like the sun had suddenly shone through the clouds, and her beautiful, amber eyes stared through the light into his. For the Last time.

And then...he was gone.

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_Please review. I cried so much at the end. Lee loved her so much._


End file.
